A 29-year-old Syrian accused of threatening terrorist acts in the Kingdom following the Nov. 9, 2005, triple bombings in Amman, pleaded not guilty to the charges at the State Security Court this week. Yousef R., a blacksmith, was charged with threatening the use of force to disrupt security and spread panic among people. The defendant arrived in the Kingdom from Syria in September 2005 and was employed in a shop in Jerash, the charge sheet said. On Nov. 18, the defendant, who was visiting relatives in Zarqa, went to an Internet café and posted threatening text in the political forum of the Jordan Information Centre (JIC) website under the user name “911” and password “blood,” according to the charge sheet. The message read: “If you think that you have ended us then you are mistaken. Watch out for new and mass explosions at a strategic place, which has many infidel people... I demand JD1 million in ransom and the release of my sister Sajida. Ha ha ha. Death has approached you infidels.”
The suspect was referring to Sajida Rishawi, the would-be Iraqi female suicide bomber whose explosive belt failed to detonate when she and three fellow terrorists attacked three of the capital's hotels in November 2005, killing 60 people. Rishawi appeared on Jordan Television on Dec. 13 and explained how she tried to blow herself up alongside her husband Ali Hassan Shumari, on Nov. 9. The suspect was arrested shortly after posting the text and confessed to his actions, according to the charge sheet.